Alcuin Montessori Curriculum Benchmark
Benchmarks reflect base expectations. Children can advance according to their developmental readiness, which is the premise of the Montessori philosophy including quality and level of work completed. Teachers utilize a multi-sensory approach, which addresses all learning styles and creates the optimal learning environment. Montessori offers a unique learning environment and specialized materials for students to accomplish these goals and achieve Education for Life.
Our Curriculum Benchmark table can be expanded below by clicking the +.
INFANT (ages 6 weeks-14 Months)
Practical Life
Care of Self
Movement
Gross Motor
Sensory/ Perceptual
Oral Motor
Math Concepts
Cultural
Science
Community
Social/Emotional
Cognitive and Memory
Outdoor Exploration
Care of Self
- Holding the bottle/self-feeding
- Infant nutrition
- Baby-led weaning
- Grasping food
- Use of a spoon
- Cup handling
- Bottle/cup transition
- Diapering
- Toileting
- Undressing
- Taking shoes/socks off
- Hand washing
- Independent sleep
- Grace and courtesy: waving hello and goodbye, baby sign - please, thank you, lining up for transitions
- Care of environment: clearing the table, wiping a spill, putting objects away
- Food preparation: peeling bananas
- Sleep environment: floor bed, crib, cot transition
- Swaddle/ sack/blanket transition
- Soothing techniques
- Sleep independence
Movement
Gross Motor
- Supine, supine flexion
- Prone, prone extension
- Reaching exercises
- Side lay, rolling – core development
- Push-up/pull-up bar
- Mobility: flexion, abduction, rotation
- Sitting and kneeling
- Crawling variations
- Standing/ stances
- Squatting, cruising, walking
- Carrying objects
- Lifting weight
- Grasping
- Finger and wrist mobility
- Palmar, pincer
- Tactile and manipulatives
Sensory/ Perceptual
Oral Motor
- Integrating tongue-thrust reflex
- Teething exercises
- Blowing, sucking, chewing, swallowing
- Discrimination of size, shape, and color
- Tracking fish in the aquarium
- Bubbles
- Tracking objects using wands
- Following activity in the room
- Identifying sounds in the environment
- Locating the source of a sound
- Food and flowers in the environment
- Tactile squares, sandpaper board, pokey ball, Play-dough, stress balls
- Rocking horse, glider, parachute games
- Trampoline and cardio activities
- Pressure activities: pillow hugs, lifting weight, crawling, push/pull
- Sensory integration: process, organize, and respond to sensorial information
- Non-verbal: matching expressions, expressing needs, sign language, gestures, pointing
- Speech development: vocalizations, babbling, conversational jargon, repeating words, expressing first words
- Interactive reading
- Communication: serve and return
- Vocabulary: habits, e.g., feeding, toileting, sleeping, working, safety
- Anatomy
- Emotions
- Verbs and nouns which covers people, animals, animal sounds, objects, environmental
- Directives and questions
- Three-period lesson: first period
Math Concepts
- Object transfer
- Spacial relationships
- Patterns, relationships an change
- Processing, collecting and organizing information
- Repetition
Cultural
Science
- Natural science exploration/biology
- Butterfly lifecycle observation and interaction
- Fish observation
- Plants and flowers in environment
- Outdoor exploration: insects, birds, local wildlife
- Earth science
- Outdoor exploration: weather, dirt, rocks, sand
- Instruments, CD books, listening to music
- Painting, Play-dough, edible art
Community
- Line time
- Visitors
- Diversity and inclusion
Social/Emotional
- Attachment to independence timeline
- Social referencing
- Self-soothing: teething, pacifiers and soothing objects, use, restrictions, weaning, thumb-soothing
- Breast/ bottle weaning
- Child/parent/teacher approach
- Child empowerment and asserting the will
- Self-regulation
- Well-being/assisted regulation: infant yoga, infant massage, digestion
- Conflict resolution
- Lining up, walking, stopping, taking turns
- Transitions
- Communication
- Intrinsic learning
- Grace and courtesy
- Freedom within limits/ boundaries
- Diversity and inclusion
Cognitive and Memory
- Protective reflexes
- Attention
- Cause and effect
- Object permanence
- Trial and error
- Problem solving
- Executive functioning skills
Outdoor Exploration
- Safety
- Nature and activities
- Buggy walks
TODDLER (ages 15-35 Months)
Practical Life
Care of Self
Grace and Courtesy
Movement
Gross Motor
Tactile
Language
Non-verbal
Math
Cultural
Science
Social/Emotional
Cognitive and Memory
Outdoor Exploration
Care of Self
- Self-feeding: toddler nutrition, self-feeding, use of a spoon, use of a fork, cup handling
- Toileting
- Dressing/ undressing: Velcro, zipper, buttons
- Putting on shoes
- Hand washing
- Use of the handkerchief
- Covering a cough/ sneeze
- Brushing teeth
- Putting clothes away
- Combing hair
- Setting the table
- Wiping a spill
- Putting objects away
- Watering plants
- Feeding fish
- Scrubbing, dusting, mopping
- Dusting
- Floor and carpet sweeping
- Washing clothes, objects, and dishes
- Squeegee
- Arranging flowers
- Folding
- Hammering and shoveling
- Food preparation and food service, e.g., pouring water, preparing food, chopping and peeling fruit and vegetables, making juice, setting the table, serving others, clearing the table
Grace and Courtesy
- Greetings
- Helping others
- How to walk around environment
- Lining up
- Welcoming a visitor
- Shaking hands
- Resolving conflicts
- Using quiet voices
- Serving food
- Handling materials
- Hanging backpack
- Sitting on the line
Movement
Gross Motor
- Carrying objects
- Lifting weight
- Pushing
- Hauling
- Pulling
- Running
- Long walks
- Balance beam
- Trampoline
- Riding toys
- Hanging bar
- Swing
- Sandbox
- Slide
- Climbers
- Dancing
- Running laps
- Jumping
- Grasping
- Finger and wrist mobility
- Palmar and pincer
- Tactile
- Manipulatives
- Nesting objects
- Ring and dowel sets
- Stringing beads
- Sewing
- Cutting and spooning
- Locks and latches
- Dry pouring and pouring with funnel
- Eye dropper
- Tongs
- Rolling pin
- Drawing, painting, writing
- Oral motor
- Ocular motor
- Cylinder block
- Geometric shape box
- Puzzles
- Sorting
- Color matching
- Pink tower
- Brown stair
- Red rods
- Cylinder blocks
- Geometric cabinet demonstration tray
- Color tablets ii
- Binomial cube
- Sandpaper letters
- Movable alphabet
- Sandpaper numerals
- Red and blue rods and numerals
- Spindle box
- Memory game
- Sounds in the environment
- Voice: tone and volume
- Simple sound matching: 4 pairs
Tactile
- Mystery bag
- Geometric solids: natural wood
- Texture and temperature in the environment
- Hopping
- Skipping
- Balance beam
- Force
- Pressure
- Coordination
- Process
- Organize
- Respond to sensorial information
Language
Non-verbal
- Eye contact
- Matching expressions
- Expressing needs
- Sign language
- Gestures
- Pointing
- Socialization
- Word recognition: pre-reading, labels, vocabulary cards with labels
- Interactive reading
- Communication
- Dialogues
- Scaffolding
- Vocabulary cards with matching objects
- Vocabulary - habits: feeding, toileting, sleeping, working, safety
- Anatomy
- Emotions
- Verbs and nouns – people: family, friends, teachers, occupational, animals, animal sounds
- Classified objects
- Questions and directives
- Spanish
- 3-period lesson
Math
- Object transfer
- Spatial relationships
- Patterns, relationships and change
- Sorting and counting
- Measurement: size, weight, quantity, volume, time
- Collecting and organizing information
- Repetition
Cultural
Science
- Natural science exploration
- Biology: Butterfly lifecycle observation and interaction, fish observation, plant and flower care
- Outdoor exploration: insects, birds, local wildlife
- Pet care: feeding, helping to set up and care for habitat
- Earth science: outdoor exploration, weather, dirt, rocks, sand
- Physical science: weight, temperature, quantity, volume
- Rhymes and songs in action
- Finger puppets
- Music box
- Instruments
- CD books
- Listening to music
- Painting
- Play-dough
- Edible art
- Chalk
- Pasting
- Tearing paper
- Cutting
- Clay modeling
- Line time
- Visitors
- Diversity and inclusion
Social/Emotional
- Independence timeline
- Social referencing
- Self-soothing
- Finger/thumb-soothing; weaning glove
- Child/parent/teacher approach
- Child empowerment and asserting the will
- Self-regulation
- Assisted regulation/wellness
- Toddler yoga
- Inversions
- Toddler relaxation
- Inversions
- Breathing
- Conflict resolution
- Lining up, walking, stopping, taking turns
- Transitions
- Communication
- Intrinsic learning
- Sensitive periods
- Freedom within limits/ boundaries
- Zones of regulation
- Diversity/inclusion
Cognitive and Memory
- Attention
- Cause and effect
- Object permanence
- Trial and error
- Problem solving
- Executive functioning
Outdoor Exploration
- Walks
- Park play
- Safety
- Nature
- Activities
Primary/Extended Day (Ages 3-6)
Life Skills/Development
- Grace and Courtesy: manners, proper introductions, how to respectfully interrupt, cooperation, patience, listening skills, learning to speak softly and quietly
- Lengthening attention span
- Ease of transition from one activity to another
- Observation skills - observe others or a lesson
- Completion of task - development of work cycles
- Respect for materials and environment
- Care of Self - basic needs (bathroom, nose blowing, hand washing)
- Gross Motor Control
- Fine Motor Control
- Care of environment and materials
- Sense of order
- Independence
- Community awareness
- Environmental awareness (global)
- Refinement of sense perception
- Sense properties include: visual, auditory, chromatic, tactile, gustatory, stereognostic, kinesthetic, olfactory, thermic, baric, balance/equilibrium
- Reading readiness: letter/sound recognition
- Sandpaper letters & moveable alphabet
- Development of phonetic reading skills
- Phonograms, sight words, puzzle words
- Introduction to grammar
- All lessons are taught in English
- Finger dexterity and strength are developed through working with Practical Life, Sensorial and other manipulative exercises
- Trace Sandpaper Letters and Numerals with fingers - cursive
- Use Metal Insets
- Cursive handwriting
- Pincer grip
- Chalkboard, unlined, lined paper
- Create stories and record
- Begin learning upper case in Extended Day
- Punctuation introduce period, capitalize first letter, etc.
- Preparation for math begins in the Practical Life and Sensorial areas, including geometry and algebra concepts.
- Concrete materials are utilized throughout curriculum, materials move from more concrete to more abstract.
- Intro to numbers: quantity and symbol recognition with numbers 1 – 10, concept of 0, odd and even numbers
- Linear Counting: 11 – 9999 and skip counting
- Sensorial introduction to square and cube roots
- Decimal system: quantity and symbol recognition, place value for numbers 1- 9,999.
- Introduction to operations addition and multiplication - static and dynamic
- Introduction to operations subtraction and division - static
- Introduction to fractions
- Geography: includes land forms, maps and cultures
- History: awareness of the passage of time through timelines, calendars & clockwork
- Environmental awareness
- Botany: development of the child’s awareness of plant life
- Zoology: development of the child’s awareness of animals
- Physical Science: exploration of physical experiments
- Scientific classification
JUNIOR ELEMENTARY (AGES 6-9)
Life Skills/Development
- Self-motivated and curious
- Responsible and accountable
- Independent learner
- Respect for environment
- Ability to comprehend what is heard
- Focus on work for 30-45 minutes
- Sequence of three directions
- Conflict resolution/problem solving skills
- Respectful of self and others
- Explore abstract world
- Reasoning
- Moral sense
- Imaginative
- Connection with facts, thoughts, and memories
- Daily work plan
- Language Tower skills: (compound words, suffix, prefix, antonym, synonym, homophone, homonym, homographs, capitalization, abbreviation, apostrophe, comma, quotation marks, classification, ABC order, guide words, dictionary and thesaurus)
- Nine parts of speech: article, adjective, noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, conjunction, preposition, interjection; derivations, etymology
- Sentence types: statement, exclamation, question and command
- Punctuation: period, comma, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation point, quotation marks
- Five sentence paragraph beginning with a topic sentence
- Fluency: expression, accuracy and meaning in reading
- Grade level comprehension
- Spelling: phonograms, digraphs, dipthongs, blends, short and long vowels, applying spelling to sentences and paragraphs
- Decoding and comprehension strategies
- Phonics
- Sight word vocabulary
- Guided reading
- Chapter books
- Literary forms
- Sequence order in a story
- Syllables
- Glossary and reference skills
- Book report
- Author and illustrator
- Research and information skills
- Introduction to outlines
- All lesson are taught in English
- Cursive
- Montessori cursive handwriting booklet
- Write short assignments neatly in copy book
- Ability to copy information correctly
- Write summary, daily journal topic, book report, letter, short story, poetry
- Sentences and paragraphs, creative writing, letters and invitations, original stories and poems, research reports
- Letter, paragraph, chapter story, journals, descriptive, persuasive, narrative, expository, poem, invitation
- Writing process: prewriting, drafting,
- Bibliography
- Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts using various Montessori materials
- Numeric order, place value
- Telling time using analog and digital clock
- Identify, name, add and subtract fractions with like denominators, equivalence, identify numerator and denominator, convert improper and mixed fractions
- Geometric shapes, solids and symmetry
- Area of rectangles, perimeter
- Word problems
- Addition and subtraction with exchanges, multiplication with multi-digit numbers, single and double-digit division with remainders (into the millions)
- Graphs (collect and represent data)
- Mental math and estimation
- Measurement: length, weight, temperature
- Skip counting and multiples 1-10
- Coin and bill combinations
- Rounding
- History of writing and math
- Timeline of history including pre-history, ancient Greece, Rome and China, Europe; United States
- Analyze needs of human society: communication, art, religion, transportation, food, health, shelter, clothing, industry, mechanization, economy and agriculture
- Human settlement and its influence on the environment and geography
- Development and interdependence of local, state, national and international communities
- Exchange of goods and services
- Contribution of individuals, cultural diversity and heritage
- Values and laws of communities, concerns; lawmaking process
- Famous Americans, U.S. national holidays, Native Americans, regional groups and way of life
- Rules/laws for classroom, school and community, citizen and environmental responsibilities
- Community needs, resources and relationships, comparisons of communities
- Physical and political map and globe skills
- Timeline of Life
- Development of life; adaptation to environment
- Scientific method
- Classification of organisms
- Observation skills; use a microscope
- Flowering plants, plant parts, trees and classification
- Plant care and functions
- Identify animal groups: invertebrates/vertebrates
- Animal care and functions
- Animal behaviors/habitats (endangered)
- Three states of matter, energy, motion, properties of air/sound
- Observe physical and chemical changes
- History of science/technology; simple machines
- Balance and weight
- Ecology, recycling
- Composition of solar system
- Formation of: volcanoes, seas, atmosphere, plate tectonics
- Weather, seasons, change
- Rocks, minerals, soil, cycle, components
- Human body systems: support, movement
- Nutrition, personal hygiene
SENIOR ELEMENTARY (AGES 9-12)
Life Skills / Development
- Social beings
- Explore abstract world
- Search for reasons
- Moral sense
- Capacity for imagination
- Discover connections
- Begin building groundwork for empathy
- Recognize and value differences in others
- Compassion for others and self
- Reflect on, and appreciate, strengths and challenges
- Begin creating a sense of identity and code of values
- Begin thinking about their place in the world
- Personal responsibility
- Respect for people and environment
- Begin to identify and employ individual learning style
- Continue building on conflict resolution and problem solving skills
- Independent thinker and learner
- Spelling patterns, prefixes and suffixes, etymology
- Grammar and punctuation skills: identify nine parts of speech, subject and predicate, sentence elements and construction, classify sentences, complete and simple subject and predicate, mechanics of writing (proper punctuation, including use of commas, periods, ellipses, quotation marks and apostrophes; proper paragraph indentation and spacing, including in dialog)
- Vocabulary, reading comprehension and interpretation
- Fluent independent reading skills in a variety of literary genres: myths, legends, autobiography, historical fiction, folk tales, biography, realistic fiction, fables, fantasy, science fiction, story elements, point of view
- Outlines
- Paragraph using a topic sentence, sequencing and conclusion
- Resource materials for research
- All lessons are taught in English
- Cursive handwriting, corrective spelling, capitalization and punctuation, poetry, stories, letters, reports, journal, book report, personal narratives, descriptive paragraphs
- Summaries
- Persuasive or opinion essay
- Bibliographies, use of primary and secondary sources
- Note-taking
- Brainstorming, rough draft, editing, publishing
- Mathematical properties
- Traditional and alternative algorithms to solve addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems with whole numbers
- Geometry: properties of 2- and 3-dimensional figures; area, perimeter, volume; concepts of shape and volume; types of angles and angle measurement
- Collect, record and graph data
- Logic problems
- Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of whole numbers, fractions and decimals; ratio, proportion, percent
- Integers
- Exponents
- Probability
- Variables
- Order of operations
- Squaring, cubing, square roots, cube roots
- Word problems
- Measurement: length, weight, volume, temperature, and elapsed time, standard and metric
- Balancing equations
- U.S. States: capitals, major cities, climate and vegetation, regional characteristics, explorers, Spanish, French and Dutch, English colonies, American Revolution
- Civic responsibilities, types of government: local, county, state and U.S. history/government systems, Declaration of Independence
- Illinois history
- Ancient cultures
- Research projects
- Physical and political maps, special purpose maps (i.e., population), world time zones, dateline, climate zones, bodies of water, landforms
- Timeline of Life
- Scientific method
- Cell structure/processes
- Genetics
- Classification of organisms
- Organism adaptations/cycles
- Communities/systems
- Physical and chemical properties
- Static electricity, magnets
- Energy production, transfer, uses
- Matter, motion, machines, Newton’s laws
- Weather and climate
- Earth’s cycles and changing surface
- Rock types and formation
- Earth minerals and soils
- Earth in space (a study of solar system)
- Solar system
- Body systems/functions
- Environmental studies
- Nutrition
Middle School (Ages 12-14)
Middle Life Skills / Development
- Need to understand adult world
- Development of personal identity
- Values sense of community belonging
- Values personal dignity and social justice
- Greater responsibility and problem-solving ability at home and school
- Developing skills in: care of self and community, leadership, work management, entrepreneurialism, financial management and independence, food preparation
- Study of common word roots, prefixes, and suffixes to increase vocabulary skills and reading comprehension
- Development of skills in close reading, comprehension, and critical thinking
- Analysis and interpretation of literary elements (setting, character, plot, conflict, theme) and literary devices (foreshadowing, allusion, symbolism, flashback, etc.)
- Exploration and comparison of various literary genres
- Reading responses and literary essays incorporating analyses and reflection supported with cited textual evidence
- Comprehension of grammar rules; identifying and correcting errors
- Appropriate use of punctuation, including commas, apostrophes, quotation marks, hyphens, dashes, ellipses, colons, and semi-colons
- Appropriate use of verb tenses and agreement, active and passive voice
- Research skills: locating and discerning validity of print and internet sources; outline and synthesize material; document sources
- Collaborative discussion skills
- Presentation skills
- All lesson are taught in English
- Information writing: thesis-driven research-based essays and publications, argument essays, journalism
- Narrative writing: personal narrative and memoir, short story
- Poetry: free verse and a variety of structured forms; techniques including meter, internal/external rhyme, alliteration, assonance, metaphor, simile, personification
- Evaluation of audience, purpose and effectiveness of writing
- Varying and appropriate use of tone and voice
- Development of transitions, precision of language, detail, sensory language
- Writing process: plan, draft, revise (repeat), edit, proofread, publish
- Peer conferencing: evaluating and isolating elements, giving constructive feedback
- Positive & negative numbers
- Comparing and converting fractions and decimals
- Exponents and exponential relationships
- Comparing and constructing proportional relationships and ratios
- Evaluating and writing expressions
- Solving equations and systems of equations
- Graphing and analyzing linear functions
- Multiplying and factoring expressions
- Quadratic equations
- Analyzing and comparing data
- Statistics and probability
- Geometric similarity and scale drawings
- Variables and patterns
- Geometric similarity
- Comparing and scaling: ratios, percents
- Linear relationships
- Volume & surface area
- Linear & inverse variation
- The Pythagorean Theorem
- Symmetry and transformations
- Symbols
- Linear systems & inequalities
- Data & statistics
- Prehistoric Native North America and Illinois
- Colonial America and revolution;
- Constitution, government and nation-building
- The South and slavery, Civil War
- 20th century Chicago and/or Oak Park
- Ancient civilizations
- World religions; war and peace; education; development of agriculture; civil rights; focus on social movements, economics, politics and culture; geography, location, movement, regions, pro/con issues; current events
- Note-taking; reading of primary sources; field study; dramatis personae; formal research papers; unit tests; visits with specialists; map and timeline work; group and individual creative presentations
- Botany: cell structure and function; photosynthesis; parts and functions of a plant, flower, seed; soil components
- Chemistry: periodic table, atomic structure, chemical and physical changes, ionic and covalent bonding, pH/acids/bases
- Ecology and biodiversity; characteristics of living things, levels of organization, classification of organisms, ecological systems and cycles, evolution and adaptation
- Physics: simple machines, work, force, motion, potential and kinetic energy, Newton’s laws of motion, laws of thermodynamics
- Anatomy and physiology: cell structure and function, body systems, puberty, sexual reproduction, sexuality, health, genetics
- Earth science and astronomy: geological time scale, structure and composition of Earth, plate tectonics, terrestrial coordinates, Earth’s movements, rotations and orbits
- Scientific method
- Scientific papers
- Microscope
- Dissection
- Field studies
